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Warris Bokhari acquired an surprising tax type in early February, simply because the 2026 tax season was ramping up.
Uber Applied sciences, the ride-hailing firm, mailed him a Type 1099-Okay itemizing about $2,317 in gross earnings earned by dozens of transactions in November and December, in accordance with a tax type reviewed by CNBC.
However Bokhari, a 46-year-old Los Angeles resident, has by no means pushed for Uber, nor been a courier, service provider or contractor for the corporate, he stated.
He spent weeks attempting to trace down solutions. Uber in the end confirmed to Bokhari that, after an investigation, it had “discovered indicators of identification theft,” in accordance with a message from Uber assist reviewed by CNBC.
Another person had used Bokhari’s private info to drive for Uber and earn earnings — and depart the actual Bokhari, within the eyes of the Inside Income Service, chargeable for taxes on that “phantom earnings,” he stated.
It is like “a horrible reverse lottery,” stated Bokhari, who’s the CEO of well being care expertise agency Claimable. “Your identification can be utilized by another person for his or her positive aspects, and also you’re left with payments and money owed that you simply attempt to undo.”
Employment identification theft on the rise
Employment-related identification theft occurs when somebody makes use of your private info, generally a Social Safety quantity, to get employed for jobs and earn earnings illegally. In lots of instances, the sufferer does not know their identification has been stolen till they obtain tax types from corporations they did not work for.
This difficulty is a rising downside within the U.S. About 31,450 folks reported employment or wage-related identification theft to the Federal Commerce Fee by the primary three quarters of 2025 — a 61% rise from the identical time interval in 2021, in accordance with federal knowledge. The FTC does not get away knowledge between employment and wage-related identification scams.
“Mysterious 1099s” aren’t a brand new difficulty, however they’ve turn into “barely extra frequent” in recent times, particularly throughout the gig economic system, in accordance with Eva Velasquez, CEO of the Id Theft Useful resource Middle, a nonprofit that gives free assist to identification theft victims.
Id theft tied to employment is usually extra frequent throughout the gig economic system, Velasquez stated. With many roles carried out remotely or by apps, corporations could also be interacting with these contractors much less often, she stated.
“These 1099s that come out of nowhere might be so destabilizing for folks as a result of it is such a quagmire for them to report and recuperate from,” Velasquez stated.
In some instances, victims should contact the IRS, their state tax division and the employer that issued the 1099 to resolve the difficulty, she stated.
Id theft points with the IRS
Employment identification theft victims want a corrected 1099 exhibiting $0 earned from the issuing firm. In any other case, the IRS or state tax company may flag returns for lacking earnings, specialists say.
For federal taxes, you possibly can verify the wage and earnings transcript out of your IRS on-line account to verify the company now not has the wrong 1099, in accordance with Jeffrey Thompson, a Los Angeles-based enrolled agent, which is a tax license to apply earlier than the IRS.
The IRS recommends getting an identification safety PIN, or IP PIN, a brand new six-digit quantity generated annually to dam others from submitting a fraudulent tax return utilizing your Social Safety quantity or particular person taxpayer identification quantity.
The company additionally suggests inserting a free one-year fraud alert on one’s credit score report with the three massive credit score reporting businesses — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — and reporting the identification theft to the Federal Commerce Fee.
Resolving tax-related identification theft points might be “time-consuming,” stated Thompson, who additionally serves on the board of the Nationwide Affiliation of Enrolled Brokers.
Throughout fiscal 12 months 2025, the Taxpayer Advocate Service, or TAS, acquired 10,897 identification theft instances, in comparison with 13,649 throughout the earlier 12 months, Erin Collins, the nationwide taxpayer advocate, wrote in her annual report back to Congress. Whereas the quantity has declined, it stays one of many high 4 causes that filers search TAS help, she wrote.
TAS is an unbiased group throughout the IRS.
The IRS is taking extra time to resolve these identification theft instances, too: About 21 months throughout the 2025 fiscal 12 months, up from 19 months the prior 12 months, the report stated.
“Decision occasions for [Identity Theft Victim Assistance] instances stay unacceptably lengthy — almost two years on common — leaving affected taxpayers with out refunds to which they’re entitled and prolonging monetary hardships,” Collins wrote.
Fixing the fallout of identification theft
Fortunately, in Bokhari’s case, Uber issued him an amended 1099-Okay exhibiting $0 of gross earnings, reflecting that he had by no means earned cash as a driver for the corporate. It additionally filed the corrected tax type with the IRS, in accordance with an Uber assist message reviewed by CNBC.
It took three weeks of messaging Uber’s customer support workforce, and e-mails and LinkedIn messages to senior members of the corporate earlier than reaching that decision, Bokhari stated.
Finally, a chief of employees at Uber answered considered one of his LinkedIn messages, and seems to have escalated the difficulty, in accordance with correspondence reviewed by CNBC.
“We’re conscious that some folks have reported receiving 1099s regardless of not driving or incomes earnings with Uber, which can point out their private info was used fraudulently,” an Uber spokesperson wrote in an e-mailed assertion to CNBC.
“Id theft and tax fraud are critical, evolving points affecting people and companies throughout many industries,” the Uber spokesperson wrote. “We take these stories severely and put money into robust fraud prevention and identification verification methods, which we constantly improve as techniques evolve.”
People who suppose they acquired a 1099 tax type in error or that their private info was misused ought to contact Uber instantly so it might examine and take motion, the spokesperson stated. Uber created a devoted assist web page for individuals who’ve acquired faulty 1099s.
It takes “fixed vigilance” to defend in opposition to fraudsters who continuously search methods to take advantage of apps for private achieve, Uber wrote in October on a web site outlining its identification theft protections.